Antonio Conte claims Matt Doherty has ‘improved a lot’ since he took charge of Tottenham.
Doherty, 30, has been enjoying his best spell of form at Spurs since joining the club in 2020, having started and been influential in each of the side’s last three games.
He was thrust into right wing-back in place of the struggling Emerson Royal against Leeds United a fortnight ago and had an immediate impact as he scored and assisted in a 4-0 win at Elland Road.
Although he couldn’t inspire Spurs to progress past Middlesborough in the FA Cup, his Premier League form continued as he contributed to two goals in the 5-0 demolition of Everton on Monday.
And Doherty’s recent displays have particularly impressed Conte, who believes the Republic of Ireland international has demonstrated strong improvement on a tactical and physical level.
He said (via Football.London): “For sure Matt is a player that improved a lot from when I arrived.
“We work, we work hard. On the tactical aspect, on the physical aspect, with the video, analysis video. During this process, there are players that improve more quickly than the others, and Matt, I think, he improved a lot in these four and a half months.
“Now he is showing also personality, to be confident, for me with this system, wing-backs are very very important, very important, and to have this improvement is good, but at the same time, also the other players showed improvement, [Ryan] Sesssegnon, Emerson … he had in the last period a problem, a groin pain.
“The same for Sergio Reguilon, after Covid. For sure my task is to improve every single player. I am happy when we finish the season and I see my players improve their performances and their football knowledge.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Doherty’s recent form has shown the reason why he was brought into Spurs in the first place. He has provided the side with an extra threat from out wide in the formation which has really benefitted the attacking players, but the challenge now is maintaining it on a consistent level.